When manicuring nails, various implements are used each having a different purpose, e.g., nail and cuticle trimming, brushing, and finishing processes such as coarse buffing, polishing and smooth buffing. In addition, a pick is often used to clean accumulated particulate matter from the area between the nail and the skin of the underlying part of the finger. The pick is inserted between the underside of the nail and the adjacent skin and scraped along the underside of the nail to thereby force the expulsion of any accumulated matter from below the nail. Such picks typically have an elongate body terminating at a pointed head region.
One problem with using such a pick to clean underneath nails is that there is no limitation on the depth to which the pick can be inserted into the area between the nail and the skin. As such, it is quite common for the pick to be over-inserted and puncture the nail bed causing bleeding, discomfort and the possibility of infection. The problem is prevalent with inexperienced manicurists and persons who manicure their own nails. It would therefore be desirable to provide a manicure implement as a replacement for a pick which inherently limits the depth to which the implement can penetrate into the area below the nail to thereby avoid puncturing the nail bed.
Another concern for manicurists and self-manicurists is that several implements are used during the course of a manicure. Each implement must be independently handled during the manicure and put down after use. As more implements are used, the handling thereof increases and thus fingernail maintenance can become a time-consuming activity. Moreover, implements can be misplaced.
To reduce the number of implements required to provide a complete manicure and thus time-consuming handling thereof, attempts have been made to provide a single instrument which has two or more different manicuring implements formed in connection therewith or arranged thereon. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,509 (Savage, III) describes a manicure file kit with several different manicuring implements all of which are used in conjunction with an S-shaped file body. An implement for trimming cuticles has the form of a V-shaped gap defined between a pair of spaced blades at one end of a planar section of the file body. A cuticle is received in the V-shaped gap and the file body is manipulated to cause trimming of the cuticle in the gap. A file surface is provided at another planar section of the file body to enable rough filing of the nails. A cover sheath is slidable over a planar section of the file body and has a file surface with a lesser coarseness than that formed on the file body and enables smooth buffing of the nails. A brush is also slidable over a planar section of the file body and enables brushing over the nails. Using the file body, a user can accomplish several different processes in the manicure, and possibly the entire manicure, without having to put the file body down. A reduction in the time to perform nail maintenance using the file body is therefore obtained.
Other manicure instruments having multiple manicuring implements, such as nail clippers and a filing surface, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,828,121 (Adam et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 2,999,505 (Herstedt), U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,094 (Bliss), U.S. Pat. No. 3,315,354 (Oates, Jr.), U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,634 (Bliss), U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,728 (Silva) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,553,592 (Yang et al.). These instruments lack an implement which is designed to clean underneath nails while limiting the penetration thereof below the nails to avoid puncturing the nail bed and causing bleeding.